Gumbo

This was a real project over the weekend.  I got some of the ideas from gumbopages.com.

Ingredients

• Shrimp (2 lb) head on.  You have to go to an asian grocery to get head on shrimp, generally.
• A whole chicken
• 2 lb chicken parts
• 1 lb andouille sausage
• 2 lb okra
• 8 stalks celery
• 4 carrots
• 2 large onions
• 3 green bell peppers
• one bunch green onions
• several sprigs of fresh thyme
• one bunch parsley
• whole pepper corns
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• 9 quarts water
• white pepper
• ground thyme
• ground oregano
• ground black pepper
• cayenne
• sweet paprika

1. Start by making a stock.  This is a special stock for gumbo, but you can use whatever stock making techniques you like.  Below is what I like to do.
2. Butcher the whole chicken, saving everything except the skin.  Chop one onion, 4 stalks of celery and the carrots into large chunks.
3. Brown the chicken and the vegetables in the bottom of you stock pot for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Add the water, and let it come to a boil, reduce it to a simmer.
5. Add the thyme and some whole peppercorns, and salt, to taste.
6. Let the stock simmer for 4 hours, skimming fat from the top every 30 minutes or so.
7. Peel the heads and skin from the shrimp.  Save the shrimp for later and add the heads and skin to the stock.
8. Let it simmer for another 30-45 minutes.
9. Strain the stock so that it is just the liquid.  I refrigerated the stock overnight to allow the fat separate, and then skimmed the fat from the top.  Any other method to remove fat from stock is also fine.
10. If the stock has been refrigerated, begin reheating it, otherwise, skip to the next step.
11. Make a roux by melting the butter in the oil in a cast iron skillet and adding flour steadily until all of the flour is in the cast iron.  Cook the roux on medium-high heat stirring constantly until the rue is dark brown, about 15 minutes.
12. Finely chop the remaining onions and celery, green peppers, garlic, and green onions.  Add the vegetables to the roux as it is finishing cooking to cool down the roux and the brown the vegetables.
13. Cook the vegetables in the roux for another 10 minutes, continuing to stir constantly.
14. Add the vegetables and roux to the stock.  Brown the chicken parts (cut into medium sized cubes) after rubbing them with a spice mixture of your liking (I used the ones listed above) in the oven.
15. Brown the andouille sausage in a cast iron skillet.
16. Add the chicken and sausage to the stock as well as the parsley, finely chopped, and the spice you would like to have in it.
17. Let the gumbo simmer for about 2 hours.
18. Chop the okra horizontally, leaving the seeds in tack.  Add the okra to the gumbo.
19. Let the gumbo simmer for another 30-60 minutes.  The okra should be simmered until it has lost all stringiness.  You should notice your gumbo thickening as the okra softens.
20. Add the shrimp and continue to simmer until the shrimp are cooked (about 15 minutes) and remove from heat.
21. Serve with rice.